A 15 year old Belgian boy died in a tragic quad-accident in Morocco. Belgian, yes, born from Moroccan parents, this youngster was on a summer holiday, visiting relatives and enjoying some sun and fun, like most of us do (or wish to do) each summer.
During his summer retreat with his parents, this 15 year-old crashed with a quad and this accident left him severely wounded and in a coma for days. Last Saturday he lost his battle and passed away, leaving behind his devastated parents and, back home in Belgium, lots of friends an co-volounteers at a local youth movement.
Off course the Belgian papers printed articles about this tragic accident, containing not only his name, but also his picture. It was a good picture, of a smiling teenager with braces and glasses and looking at it, my hart broke a little, thinking of the devastation his family, friends and classmates have to deal with.
Little did I know about the tragedy that was about to follow this one.
Later that day I saw some people posting tweets of outrage about a facebook-page and more so, the reactions on it. Naturally I checked what the fuss was all about. What I found was shocking!
The racism was sickening, shocking, numbing almost. I refuse to translate the things I read about the death of this child, but knowing he had Moroccan roots, you get the idea.
I read the disgusting comments and was left in shock. When the first shock died down a little my thoughts went to the family and friends of Ramzi Mohammad. As if they didn't already have so much pain and heartache, people were posting the most harsh, offending, hateful messages about the boy they just lost.
His mother came to mind and I couldn't help but cry. Imagine losing a child. Imagine having to sit by his wounded body for days, while he's in a coma, hoping, praying for him to make it. Imagine the moment when he loses the battle and she loses her son.
The latest years we have all used the internet as a platform to throw around our opinions, although most of the time we weren't asked for our opinion, there are so many platforms for us to give it, we simply couldn't resist.
And it gave us a lot in return, we can now scream and shout about injustices and the world will know about it. Thank god for certain hashtags, thank god for social media. Thank god for not being censored.
But oh, the other side of the medal….
I am left disgusted, outraged, ashamed of some of my fellow-Belgians.
The death of Ramzi Mohammad was a tragedy on it's own, but the racism that followed, that's a whole other tragedy. What posses a human being to wish for, or celebrate a teenager's death?
I know this is not something new, that racism has been here since the beginning of time, but still, my heart sank into my shoes this week. Again.
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